Post by Mumbles Motor Boat Fishing Cl on Jun 9, 2015 15:13:46 GMT 1
Oystercat 7 June 2015 – Dean Gifford
The broken lock gates last weekend stop our boat fishing. The sea temperatures are on the increase and more 'summer' species starting to show, so to make the most of the trip Skipper Dean Gifford opted for a 'cover-all' trip. This included general reef fishing in the morning then some drift fishing in the afternoon.
All the anglers were on board by 07:45. Swansea Tackle and Bait delivered the last 2lb of live sandeels to the outer pontoon and we picked them up as we exited Tawe Lock.
The day started with nearly everyone on board @ 7:45am - the last 2 and 2lb of live sandeels from Swansea tackle and bait were picked up on the outer pontoon as we exited tawe lock.
Our first fishing mark was on the south edge of the Langland Reef, where the seabed is a mixture of rock and sandy patches. Hungry smooth hounds quickly found the crab baits, and then along came the dogs, bull huss and the occasional bream to make up the rest of the catch.
Photo 1 Dean bream Gifford (skipper)
Dean attempted to get a photo of this lovely blue coloured male bream - but this little 'blighter' jumped, flipped and embedded its dorsal spines into my hand so no arty photo was be taken.
As the top tide came and went Dean moved the Oystercat to another feature only 200 metres or so away where there were some boulders surrounded by sand. Everyone scoffed as a few dabs started coming aboard 'good bream mark this is' but we did find a few there - these were females though so lacking in the vibrant colours of the males.
They also had a pollack that gave an impression of a 5lb bream with its initial crash dives, a few smooth hounds, bull huss and a nice lobster for Nathaniel.
Photo 2 Nathaniel James lobster
When the tide had been ebbing for 2hrs, and with everyone suitably feed and watered (John Elvins did a cracking job catering & catching fish!!) the anchor was lifted and Oystercat headed West in search of bass.
As they approached the banks they could see a number of commercial and recreational boats drifting so hopes of a good catch were definitely high. On the initial drift Pete Jordan caught the first bass of the day.
Photo 3 Pete Jordan with bass
This was closely followed by Nigel Ellerton landing his first bass of the day
Photo 4 Nigel Ellerton with bass
Oystercat drifted for a couple more hours but the anglers only managed another 4 bass to bring the total bass caught up to the half dozen.
As the tide dropped away to low water Dean had planned to go further West to some other bank markss, but after 2 miles or so the sea became very 'snotty', losing a few cups as the Oystercat rolled in the swell. The further West they headed the worse it got so they did a quick 180 degree turn and headed over to the St Christopher Knoll mark to see out the early flood. Here they had a few dabs, many small but some of good size, 2 plaice and a few dogs.
After finishing off our gammon rolls – They finished the day's fishing on the Oysterledges, a dozen or so drifts resulted in just one bass so they headed back to the marina. They got in to the river about 7:30pm , along with a lot of other boats who were already there waiting to go through the lock gates. They finally got back to the berth around 9pm... Should have stayed out and had a few more drifts!!!
In all a nice day, wind really blew up at the end of the day which prevented them doing what they'd really would have liked to have doing. They got a nice little collection of species - nothing very big or in large numbers, but enough to make and keep it interesting.
The broken lock gates last weekend stop our boat fishing. The sea temperatures are on the increase and more 'summer' species starting to show, so to make the most of the trip Skipper Dean Gifford opted for a 'cover-all' trip. This included general reef fishing in the morning then some drift fishing in the afternoon.
All the anglers were on board by 07:45. Swansea Tackle and Bait delivered the last 2lb of live sandeels to the outer pontoon and we picked them up as we exited Tawe Lock.
The day started with nearly everyone on board @ 7:45am - the last 2 and 2lb of live sandeels from Swansea tackle and bait were picked up on the outer pontoon as we exited tawe lock.
Our first fishing mark was on the south edge of the Langland Reef, where the seabed is a mixture of rock and sandy patches. Hungry smooth hounds quickly found the crab baits, and then along came the dogs, bull huss and the occasional bream to make up the rest of the catch.
Photo 1 Dean bream Gifford (skipper)
Dean attempted to get a photo of this lovely blue coloured male bream - but this little 'blighter' jumped, flipped and embedded its dorsal spines into my hand so no arty photo was be taken.
As the top tide came and went Dean moved the Oystercat to another feature only 200 metres or so away where there were some boulders surrounded by sand. Everyone scoffed as a few dabs started coming aboard 'good bream mark this is' but we did find a few there - these were females though so lacking in the vibrant colours of the males.
They also had a pollack that gave an impression of a 5lb bream with its initial crash dives, a few smooth hounds, bull huss and a nice lobster for Nathaniel.
Photo 2 Nathaniel James lobster
When the tide had been ebbing for 2hrs, and with everyone suitably feed and watered (John Elvins did a cracking job catering & catching fish!!) the anchor was lifted and Oystercat headed West in search of bass.
As they approached the banks they could see a number of commercial and recreational boats drifting so hopes of a good catch were definitely high. On the initial drift Pete Jordan caught the first bass of the day.
Photo 3 Pete Jordan with bass
This was closely followed by Nigel Ellerton landing his first bass of the day
Photo 4 Nigel Ellerton with bass
Oystercat drifted for a couple more hours but the anglers only managed another 4 bass to bring the total bass caught up to the half dozen.
As the tide dropped away to low water Dean had planned to go further West to some other bank markss, but after 2 miles or so the sea became very 'snotty', losing a few cups as the Oystercat rolled in the swell. The further West they headed the worse it got so they did a quick 180 degree turn and headed over to the St Christopher Knoll mark to see out the early flood. Here they had a few dabs, many small but some of good size, 2 plaice and a few dogs.
After finishing off our gammon rolls – They finished the day's fishing on the Oysterledges, a dozen or so drifts resulted in just one bass so they headed back to the marina. They got in to the river about 7:30pm , along with a lot of other boats who were already there waiting to go through the lock gates. They finally got back to the berth around 9pm... Should have stayed out and had a few more drifts!!!
In all a nice day, wind really blew up at the end of the day which prevented them doing what they'd really would have liked to have doing. They got a nice little collection of species - nothing very big or in large numbers, but enough to make and keep it interesting.